Gentle Harvest of Potatoes in Storage Boxes

In order to guarantee a gentle handling of potatoes that maintains the quality of the product, potatoes are filled into storage boxes at the harvest stage. The filled storage boxes are transported to and deposited in the store. The potatoes are not exposed to any handling processes or mechanical stress. In order to fill the storage boxes on board the harvester, a filler has been developed and tested for three harvest periods. The method of filling the storage boxes on board the harvester was compared with two conventional procedures. The evaluation criteria used to compare the methods were amongst others: respiration intensity, black spots and the costs involved. As expected using the gentle filling process directly on the harvester the number and intensity of impacts can be reduced. Mainly potato varieties with high susceptibility showed lower respiration intensities and reduced grades of black spot development. The slightly higher process costs can be justified because of high quality of the tubers.